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P. S. GUERBER.

SIGNAL GOMPENSATOR.

No. 330,832. Patented Nov. 17, 1885.

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SIGNAL GOMPBNSATOR. y No. 330,832. Patented-Nov. 17, 1885.

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f f UNITED STATES ATENT PEICE.

FREDERICK s. GUERRER, CE PITTSRURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNCR To THE UNION SWITCH AND SIGNAL COMPANY, CE SAME PLACE.

SIGNAL-COMPENSATOR.

SPEGIFICATIQN forming part of Letters` Patent No. 330,832, .dated November 17, 1885. Application filed January 26, 18H3. Serial No.. `83,130. (No model.)

y T L'ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK S. GUER- RER, of Pittsburg, county of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Signal-Line Gompensators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specication, in which-like letters indicating like parts- Figure 1, Sheet l, is a view in elevation, partly in section, 4pf a portion of a Signalshifting apparatusllustrating my present invention. Fig. 2, Sheet 2, is a similar view Showing the same improvement in a somewhat modified form; and Fig. 3 is a section through a sprocket-wheel, illustrating the employment of the same with a chain in the'present apparatus.

In the actuating of railway signals and switches at a distance from the cabin or other.

place Where the power is to be applied-a definite fixed length of stroke or motion being usually necessary, and lost or slack motion being a serious obj ection-much difficulty has been experienced on account of the expansion and contraction, caused-by changes of temperature, in the rods, tubes, chains, ropes, or wires, which are necessarily employed for the purpose. This is especially the case in the use of what are commonly termed distant signals. Such signals are now required at distances from the operators cabin or stand of, say, half a mile, (more or less,) and oftentimes in places where they are always invisible from the operators cabin or stand on account of a curve or intervening obstructions to the view, and even under the most favorable conditions they are frequently invisible on account of fog, rain, or snow. Hence on such lines of connection between signalcabin and signal, or in other like apparatus, arises the necessity of a compensating device which will automatically allow the line of connection to contract without rupture, and without thereby changing the position or adjustment of the signal or other device with which it is connected at either end, and will also automatically take up the slack caused by expansion, so that such line of connection will always be taut77 and in condition for safe and accurate use. Various devices adapted more or less perfectly to perform this function are already in use, and hence I do not claimV to be `the rst to have accomplished it; but I claim Saxby and Farmer apparatus, or a portion of 7o such apparatus, wherein A represents the iioor or platform of the operatorsl stand. B

is a signal-shifting lever pivoted by shoe b on the shaft b', and provided with the usual counterweight, V,on the arm W. The Saxby and Farmer quadrant is represented at D and the pivoted slotted link at D. Through the agency of -the catch rod d the lever B is locked and unlocked in place on the quadrant, and by its tilting action on the link D', transmitted thence to apparatus represented in part at P, preliminary interlocking is effected, as described in United States Patent to John Saxby, No. 230,200, dated July 20, 1880. This apparatus is usually erected in a building or shed at some convenient point, and known as the cabin77 Referring, rst, to Fig. l, c represents a wire, wire strand or rope, or other Suitable line of connection, which extends from the operators cabin or standI to the signal or other object to be moved. Such wire line is usually connected with the signal in such manner that apull on the line will set thersignal in one position- Say at safety7 7 -and when the pull is slackened or released, as by reversingY the lever, a counter-weight on or connected with the Signal will set it tothe reverse positionsay at danger. This` wire is atV the cabin end passed over a pulley, f, which is mounted IOO in suitable bearings or brackets, f', secured to the floor timbers or frame A, and to the eXtreme free end of the wire I attach a weight, a', such as will keep the wire sufficiently taut for practical purposes, but will not prevent the signal counter-weight from restoring the signal to dangen when the pull on the wire is released. When the lever is in the position shown, the pulley f is free to re volve on its bearings, the signal is at fdanger, and any eXpansion of the line a will be taken up through the action of the weight a', and if the line a contracts it will simply turn the pulley f a little and draw upon the weight a. Hence the line a will always be taut, for it will be understood that in the normal use of such apparatus the signals are put at safety i'or only a short time prior to the time a train 1s expected, and sometimes not until its approach is announced by an annunciator, and during such brief time no injurious change of length can be effected by expansion or contraction; and it may also be stated here that increase of length, if any, e'ected by stretching, is also taken ,up in the way described.

In order now,while leaving the pulley f free to turn when the apparatus is in normal position, as described and shown, to be able to make an operative engagement therewith whenever it is desired to shift the signal--say to safety-by pulling the leverBover to the left, and also to preserve such engagement until the lever is put back I employ a rack-bar, H, pivoted, as at g, to the lever B. One end, h, o f this rack-bar extends forward in convenient position to be engaged by the lower end of a tip-rod, c, which is suspended on a bar, c', in such manner that it may have a short range of vertical motion. The upper end of the tiprod c projects through a hole in the door-plate A2, immediately under the end of the pivoted link D', so that the latter may bear thereon. The longer arm h of the rackbar H extends back alongside of the pulley f, and is made with a rack, e, either thereon as a part thereof or aflixed bybolting or otherwise thereto, and shown in dotted lines. A toothed pinion, e', also shown in dotted lines, is secured to the shaft of the pulley f, or to the pulleyitself, so that both move together, and the rack e and pinion e are in the same plane, so that they may be brought into and out of engagement with each other by a movement of one directly toward or from the other. With the apparatus in what has been spoken of as its normal position, or in the position shown,the right-hand end of the link D is depressed by the spring d on the catch-rod,and by its bearing on the upper end of the tip rod c the short arm h of the rack-bar H is depressed, and the long arm h is raised so that the rack e Vshall then stand clear or out of engagement with the pinion e. Then the pulley f is free to turn as expansion or contraction in the line a may require. When the operator desires,

then, to clear or otherwise shift the signal, he rst tilts the link D by raising the catch-rod d,and in so doing releases the pressure which previously operated to hold down the arm h. Then the greater weight of the arm h causes the rack e to drop into engagement with the pinion e', and as the lever B is pulled to the left motion is communicated. through rackbar H, rack e, and pinion e', to the pulleyf, and through it to the connectingline a and to the signal mechanism at its other end, and with the reversal of the leverB the opposite action takes place in reverse order.

Instead of relying on the greater weight of the arm hto effect the engagement of rack e and pinion e', a special weight or a spring may be provided for the purpose; or the two may at the beginning of the lever-stroke be forced into engagement by the use of a friction-roller, s, engaging an incline, s', on the rack e, or on the lrack-bar, the roller 8 running on the ,top or back face of the rack e, while the rack and pinion are to be kept interlocked.

In order that the wire a may have a sufficiently-tight frictional bearing on the pulley f, so that there shall be no slipping, it may be, and generally should be, wound one or more times around the pulley; or so much of the line a as acts on the pulley-face may, as represented in Figs. 2 and 3, be replaced by a 'light chain, a?, the links of which will engage on sprocket-teeth ai, or on the other inequalities on the face of the pulley in any of the ways yknown to the art.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 2 the rack-bar H is pivoted at or near one lend of the lever, and a wrist, n, mounted in a bracket, n', plays along a slot` inclined, as at o, to the direction of motion, so that as the bar H moves or begins to move to the left the rack e will be brought into engagement with the pinion e', and then the other part, o', of the slot being in the line of the motion of the bar H the rack and pinion will be held in engagement until at or near the end of the reverse `motion of the lever.

rIhe devices of Fig. 2, otherwise than as above described, have the same operation as the similarly-lettered devices of Fig. l.

The rack and pinion described constitute mechanically a clutch device, one half or part of the clutch being connected with the wire line, so as to move with the motions resulting from expansion, contraction, Ste., and the other half or part of the 'clutch being suitably combined therewith, so as by the lever mechanism to `be `moved to and from its counterpart, and thereby make engagement therewith at or near the beginning of the leverat or before the end of the reverse lever-stroke.

`My invention is `applicable to signal mech' anisms generally, including signal-lights.

Mechanical equivalents for various parts of the apparatus described, other than those above specifically named, may be substituted without any substantial departure from the present invention.

It will be noticed that the rack and pinion IOO IIO

of Fig. 2 differ lsomewhat in the form of the teeth from the corresponding devices of Fig. l.

Either may be used at pleasure, but the fornier is preferable, in that it provides for giving a positive motion to the pulley f in both directions; but by using a roller, s, the rack and pinion in Fig. l may be kept in engagement during the reverse movement of the lever, so as to insure a positive movement both Ways. A spring, s2, may be added to the bearing-pin of the roller, if so desired. p

I claim herein as my invention- 1. In a signal-shifting or other like apparatus, the combination of a shifting-lever, a rack-bar pivoted thereto, a pulley carrying a cord or chain connected to the object to be moved and to a counter-Weight, said pulley being normally free to move axially under elongation or contraction of said cord or chain, a pinion Xed to said pulley and adapted to engage the teeth of the rack-bar, and cam and roller mechanism, substantially as described, actuated by the movement ofthe shiftinglever, to engage and disengage the rack-har and pinion, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of` a signal-shifting lever, a catch-rod connected thereto, a tip-rod adapted to receive or be released from pressure in accordance with movements of the catchrod, a rack-bar pivoted to the shifting-lever, said bar having a projection upon one side of its pivot receiving pressure from the Vtip-rod and a series of teeth on the opposite side of its pivot, a normally freely moving pulley carrying a counterweighted line-connection to a signal, and a pinion connected to said pulley and adapted to engage the teeth of the rackbar upon the release thereof from the pressure of the tip-rod, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a signal shifting lever, a rack-bar pivoted at one end to said lever and having a slot adjacent to its opposite end, located partially in the line of its length and partially inclined thereto, a Wrist mounted upon a xed support and engaging said slot, a normally freely-moving pulley carrying a counterweighted line-connection to a signal, and a pinlon connected'to said pulley and adapted to engage the teeth of the rackbar, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

FREDERICK S. GUERBER. Witnesses:

R. H. WHITTLESEY, GEORGE H. CHRISTY. 

